* Trump said Sunday that 'black people 'are worse now than just about ever' * Claims Obama has done nothing for low employment rates * Weekend poll showed Trump has his greatest support yet nationally He has a 24.9 percent vote among Republicans, according to poll Days after assuring that he has the support of Hispanic voters, Donald Trump has now claimed that African-American people are also on his side - and that Obama has let them down. In yet another round of bashing the President, the billionaire said Obama has done 'absolutely nothing' for the black community. He gave...

BIRCH RUN, MI — The Michigan Democratic Party is organizing a protest outside the Saginaw County venue where GOP presidential hopeful Donald Trump will speak on Tuesday, Aug. 11. The Facebook page for the protest, "Rally Against Donald Trump," was created on July 30 by the Michigan Democratic Party. "We cannot let Trump's anti-immigrant, anti-veteran beliefs be welcome anywhere in our state," the event page states. A poster for the protest references the current GOP frontrunner's "anti-immigrant, anti-veteran statements." Trump will be the keynote speaker at a Lincoln Day event, a fundraiser for the Republican Party in Saginaw and Genesee...

The Tea Partyer was secretly recorded bashing Romney as the worst GOP presidential candidate on Earth.When Tea Party firebrand and Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz lashed out Mitt Romney yesterday for daring to condemn his over-the-top charge that the Obama administration had become the worldÂ’s leading state sponsor of terror by negotiating a nuclear nonproliferation deal with Iran, it was hardly the first time the Texas senator has attacked his partyÂ’s 2012 presidential nominee. According to a new report in the National Journal, during a private speech back in May to the Council for National Policy, a secretive group of...

In his pursuit of the 2016 Republican presidential nomination, Rand Paul has made sure to put lots of distance between himself and his father—and Dad appears to be firing back.Ron Paul does not approve of his son Rand Paul’s position on the Iran deal, and he let him know Thursday evening in a speech that called him out—though not by name. “Right now one of the big issues, you know, in the news, probably on foreign policy, is whether or not the Obama administration should talk to the Iranians,” the elder Paul told the crowd at the Young Americans for...

Toby Neugebauer, the son of a U.S. Texas congressman, donated almost a third of the funds raised by Super PACs supporting presidential hopeful U.S. Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, according to campaign finance reports filed Friday. Neugebauer, son of Lubbock Republican Randy Neugebauer, donated $10 million to "Keep the Promise II," one of four PACs for Cruz of the same name. Neugebauer is the co-founder of Quantum Energy Partners, a Houston-based private equity firm in the energy industry. According to Bloomberg, the firm has managed more than $7 billion in commitments since 1998. Neugebauer is heavily involved in the energy industry,...

In June, I was asked to be prepared to give a presentation on Ted Cruz for a meeting on July 7. As I went about my initial research into this man now running for the Republican nomination for president, I realized that there was a lot of information available. Much of it has to do with positions on the issues of our time while some being quite negative. In the end, it seemed like a better idea to try to predict how this man would behave if ever elected to be our president. To begin, young Cruz grew up under...

Ted Cruz's presidential campaign has recruited one of his home state's most prolific Tea Party activists, JoAnn Fleming. Fleming, a longtime Cruz ally who backed his underdog bid for the U.S. Senate, will serve as the Texas Tea Party chairwoman of his White House run, according to a campaign source. A formal announcement was expected Tuesday afternoon. "JoAnn is one of Texas’ most experienced activists and has a long record of leading the fight for conservative principles," Cruz said in a statement to the Texas Tribune. "She has been a supporter from the very beginning when no one thought I...

President Obama and Jeb Bush have drawn the ire of Sen. Ted Cruz after they attacked Gov. Mike Huckabee for his comments about the Iran nuclear deal. Huckabee said the president’s Iran policy would “take the Israelis and march them to the door of the oven.” The president bristled at what he called a “ridiculous” comment. “The particular comments of Mr. Huckabee are just part of a general pattern we’ve seen that would be considered ridiculous if it weren’t so sad,” he said. “We’ve had a sitting senator call John Kerry Pontius Pilate. We’ve had a sitting senator, who also...

While Bernie Sanders and Hillary Clinton are bringing in a sizeable number of donations of under $100, Republicans have been going for the big money, like the huge score Ted Cruz just made from a pair of Texas frackers. Even so, on July 16, Newsmax made a big deal of Hillary receiving donations from wealthy individuals, with the headline, “Hillary Clinton’s Donations From Hedge Fund Titans Exceed Republicans.” Those Democrats are such elitists! You don’t want to be drinking milk when you read these things, at least not without a bib. And here the Texas Messiah, Ted Cruz, just hauled...

Donald Trump reiterated calls to erect a wall on the border between Mexico and the United States during a visit to the border city of Laredo, Texas, on Thursday. "In certain sections you have to have a wall, absolutely," Trump said, speaking to the press shortly after touring the border crossing. "The wall will save you a tremendous amount of money." The comments came during a fly in visit to the city to discuss plans for increasing border security. Just one month ago, during his campaign launch, Trump said one of the priorities of his presidency would be to build...

If there's a small silver lining for the Republican Party in the bonanza of insanity that is Donald Trump's candidacy, it's this: He's single-handedly managed to make the rest of the GOP field look downright reasonable by comparison. There's less talk of a "clown car" primary when the main attraction is the ringmaster of his own circus. Each day, Trump seems to reach new heights of absurdity, offensiveness, and popularity among Republican poll respondents. On Tuesday, he called fellow candidate Lindsey Graham an "idiot" and handed out the South Carolina senator's cellphone number — a response to Graham referring to...

In a poll conducted from July 17th to July 20th, support for GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump hasn’t taken a hit despite Trump’s comments about Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) on Saturday, July 18th, while attending the Family Leadership Summit in Iowa. A recent Morning Consult poll reveals Trump leads all of the GOP contenders, with 22 percent of the vote. This places Trump seven percentage points ahead of former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who held 15 percent of the vote. Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker came in third place with 12 percent of the vote. According to the poll, Dr. Ben...

Former Gov. Jesse Ventura says he’s backing Sen. Bernie Sanders in his bid for president. In a blog post on his independent media site, Ventura praised Sanders for challenging Hillary Clinton for the Democratic Party nomination. “I think what Bernie Sanders is doing is extremely healthy,” Ventura wrote. “I love the idea of somebody throwing a fly in the ointment.” This isn’t the first time Ventura backed a presidential candidate looking to shake up the system. In 2008 and 2012, Ventura backed Republican Ron Paul for president. In 2004, Ventura backed Democrat John Kerry against Republican President George W. Bush....

Here is the guy who should be doing some cross-party fusion. He rallied a lot of Americans in bipartisan fashion on national security. He seemed to be playing his cards right. And . . . ? Bernie Sanders is kicking his butt in campaign fundraising. In fact, I dare say Sanders froze Paul’s chance at fusion. All the little rich libertine millennials that Paul was counting on, instead got excited for Sanders. But I am still really surprised by this. Paul only raised $6.9 million. Ben Carson raised $10.6. And that is money raised by the candidate, not the Super...

Ted Cruz is way behind in polls about the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. But he’s killing it when it comes to fundraising. The Texas senator is in eighth place among the GOP White House hopefuls, according to the latest average of polls from RealClearPolitics. But Cruz places third in the money race, when counting his own campaign and affiliated super PACs, behind fellow Republican Jeb Bush and Democrat Hillary Clinton. On Wednesday, the public got a look at how the campaigns are raising and spending money through the end of the second quarter. As The Wall Street Journal points out,...

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Ted Cruz is the only major Republican in the field who isn’t jumping all over Donald Trump for his series of provocative comments regarding immigration and John McCain’s war service. In fact, Cruz even recently went to bat for Trump. Cruz and Trump had a private meeting together last week at Trump’s New York City office, the Daily Mail reports, so it’s clear that the two are already talking strategy. Trump has stolen some of Cruz’s thunder, and probably some of his vote share, early in this campaign. The latest Suffolk University poll puts Trump at...

Because presidential elections only happen once every four years, it’s always interesting to see how campaigning changes in reference to technologies and tactics. A lot of innovation happens over the course of four years and it’s very rare for candidates to follow the same formula as those who went before them. In the 2016 race for the White House, this principle is already holding true. Social media and presidential campaigns If you turn back the clock 10 or 15 years, progressive media forms consisted of talk radio, the Internet and maybe a handful of podcasts. Presidential candidates that were able...

Staff writer Adam Schrader reports:Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders sought Sunday during a Dallas visit to calm complaints about his response, at a progressive activists gathering this weekend, to concerns about police brutality. “We want a nation where a young black man or woman can walk down the street without worrying about being falsely arrested, beaten or killed,” Sanders told more than 8,000 people who packed a Sheraton Hotel ballroom to hear him. (VIDEO-AT-LINK)Sanders, an independent senator from Vermont, has been drawing huge crowds in his long-shot bid for the Democratic presidential nomination. Though he’s unlikely to wrest the nomination...

Trump: Media Treating Me ‘Unfairly,’ Other GOP Candidates Jealous by Evan McMurry | 10:03 am, July 19th, 2015 VIDEO 1258 On This Week, Trump said the controversy had been ginned up by the media and a jealous pack of GOP rivals upset he was leading in the polls. “This whole thing was brought up be a lot of people that are competing against me currently, that aren’t even registering in the polls, because a lot of people are tired of them,” Trump said, alluding to former Texas Governor Rick Perry, who called for Trump to exit the race following his...

BROOKLYN, Iowa — As many Republican presidential candidates are dodging the political specter of Donald Trump or attacking him, Ted Cruz has incorporated praise for Trump into his campaign stump speech. At a small town hall event here on Friday, Cruz reminded his supporters that he has been the sole Republican to back Trump in light of his myriad controversial remarks, particularly about immigration. “Donald spoke out, and then this parade of Republicans ran out to smack him with a stick, one after the other after the other. The only one that didn’t was me,” Cruz said, to enthusiastic applause...

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa — Bernie Sanders told veterans in Iowa Friday that unlike some other politicians, he doesn't pay lip service to their concerns. "It is very easy to raise the flag at a troop deployment, it is very easy for a politician to give a moving speech on Veterans Day," Sanders said. "But it is very hard to go down that long road with the men and women who served and make sure that they continue to get all the benefits, all the healthcare, that they are entitled to for the rest of their lives." The Vermont senator told...

Rand Paul’s father Ron does not appear to be among the over 100,000 donors so far to his son’s presidential campaign. According to the younger Paul’s recent Federal Election Commission filing, the elder Paul, a former Texas congressman who himself ran for president three times, has yet to donate to his son’s 2016 presidential campaign — at least not more than the $200 threshold where his donation would be required to report. Rand’s mother, Carol, does not appear to have donated her son’s campaign yet either. In contrast, the other Republican presidential contender with a storied political family, Jeb Bush,...

Ted Cruz wants Republicans to ask themselves what his political father, Ronald Reagan, asked Americans more than 30 years ago: Are you better off now than you were four years ago? Everything he has done so far, since he became the first declared presidential candidate, has made this the central question of his campaign. He wants to seize on the dissatisfaction of social conservative hardliners and ride that wave to the nomination. Now, a new plan by a super PAC backing Cruz, shows the level of dedication to testing that presumption, particularity when it comes to the use of "wedge...

Here's Rick Perry on Donald Trump: Rick Perry âœ” â€Ž@GovernorPerry .@realDonaldTrump-ism not conservatism but a toxic mix of demagoguery and nonsense https://t.co/C5aPaaA13p12:03 PM - 16 Jul 2015 The statement that Perry links to in that tweet goes on to savage Trump's "fundamental misunderstanding of border security" and note: "Mr. Trump has done nothing to prove that he is the president America needs.Â” Them's fighting words -- or at least that's what Perry and his team have to hope. The reality of the 2016 race for second-tier-and-below candidates like Perry is that Trump is soaking up lots and lots of the...

What a difference three years can make for Texas Land Commissioner George P. Bush. The rising star in Texas Republican politics acknowledged on Thursday the awkward position he is in over his glowing 2012 endorsement of then-U.S. Senate candidate Ted Cruz, now that Cruz is running against his father for the GOP nomination. “It guess it proves the old cliché that a year is an eternity in politics,” Bush said of the three-year-old endorsement, in which he referred to the future senator as “the future of the Republican Party." “Things have changed dramatically,” Bush said. “Look, I’m friends with Ted....

If you had to vote in your state primary/caucus today, knowing what you know now about the various declared and probable candidates, who would you vote for? Why? Who would you like to see as the running mate for your preferred candidate? If you could help staff your candidates cabinet and other top appointments, who would you choose? If you could recommend different congressional leaders than we have now, who would they be? And who would you like to see on the Supreme Court and why? And finally, feel free to donate to Free Republic.

At midnight, the deadline for candidates for president (and other federal offices) to report how much they raised and spent over the first six months of the year were due at the Federal Election Commission. Campaign finance nerds are spending today (and tomorrow and the next day) combing through the fine print of each report for the nuggets that provide some insight into how candidates are raising and spending their money -- and why. While they do that, we thought we'd give some of the topline takeaways from the second quarter of fundraising for the 2016 presidential race. Below are...

The Lonestar State is GOP donor central, but Walker's rivals already have the big money locked up. Before most GOP presidential contenders set foot in Iowa or New Hampshire, they typically first hit another pivotal state: Texas. The Lonestar State is the undisputed center of the Republican Party's donor base, so almost all of the GOP hopefuls have trekked regularly there and established extensive fundraising operations in Texas. But there's one big exception: Scott Walker, who formally announced his presidential bid on Monday. The union-busting Wisconsin governor may be a conservative darling, but he's way behind the curve when it...

The Iranian nuclear deal is a big step toward world peace, and Republicans would be praising it if one of their own had negotiated it, former Texas Rep. Ron Paul told Newsmax TV's "The Hard Line."Paul told host Ed Berliner that the deal echoed Ronald Reagan's deal with the Soviets in the 1980s. Paul's biggest problem with the deal was that the United States had to work under the confines of the United Nations and NATO. "There's something to be said about moving in the direction of at least talking to people instead of saying, 'All right, you're scoundrels, we'll...

Jeb Bush holds a small lead over Donald Trump nationally in the race for the Republican presidential nomination, according to a new poll released Monday by Monmouth University. The survey found Bush at the top of the pack, with 15 percent support, followed by Trump at 13 percent. That’s a 6-point jump for Bush compared to the same poll in June. The former Florida governor has hit his stride since launching his bid for the White House last month, steadily rising in the polls to open up a 6-point lead over the next-closest contender nationally, according to the RealClearPolitics average....

I confess that I do not begin to understand homosexual or transgender issues. As life would have it, this matter has found its way into the lives of my own circle of friends and family members, people whom I love and respect most dearly. While I acknowledge that I do not fully understand the issues which formed the basis of the case before the Supreme Court, I am comfortable with the decision and fully believe the Court is right in its ruling that laws forbidding same-sex marriage are unconstitutional. Frankly, I don’t have to understand anything other than that I...

Usually, by the time Texas voters get to the presidential dance, the music has stopped playing. With a couple of exceptions, Democrats and Republicans pick their nominees based on the results of elections in early contest states like Iowa, New Hampshire and South Carolina. Texas is the after-party that all the cool folks skip. Next year promises to be different. Texas holds its 2016 primary election on March 1, part of a Super Tuesday grab bag that’s also been dubbed the SEC primary, a nod to states with schools that compete athletically in the Southeastern Conference. With the field of...

If anyone in the GOP field knows how to draw attention, it’s Donald Trump. And if anyone has a recipe for coping with Trump’s unfiltered and inflammatory comments, lots of Republicans would love to hear it. Two Texans in the 2016 field offered studies in contrast as outrage bubbled over Trump’s depictions of Mexican immigrants as thugs and rapists. “Donald Trump does not represent the Republican Party,” said former Gov. Rick Perry. “I am proud to stand with Donald Trump,” said Sen. Ted Cruz. Governing is about choosing, and so are campaigns. “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending...

Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) are reintroducing legislation to revive the Glass-Steagall Act, which would force big banks to split their investment and commercial banking practices. Glass-Steagall was first passed in 1933 but repealed during the Clinton administration, leading many progressives to argue that it contributed to the 2008 financial collapse. Warren and McCain, along with their cosponsors, Sens. Angus King (I-Maine) and Maria Cantwell (D-Wash.), said in a statement that the legislation would make big banks that are "too big to fail" smaller and safer and minimize the likelihood of a government bailout....

The national Democratic Party released a new video Thursday that connects the entire Republican presidential field to the immigration remarks made by real-estate magnate Donald Trump. The Democratic National Committee's video is titled, "Retrumplican Party." The brief clip intersperses some of Trump's most controversial comments with the other GOP candidates' own statements against illegal immigration. "Trump may be running for president," the video concludes, "but his ideas are running the party." Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, the Democratic presidential front-runner, also recently tried to tie other Republicans' immigration positions to Trump. The real-estate developer has been at the center...

Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders have more in common than either of them would ever admit. This is obscured by how their different rhetorical styles – Trump is a bellicose billionaire while Sanders is a soft-spoken socialist. Despite this glaring difference, they’re waging similar Presidential campaigns, giving voice to anti-government frustrations while peddling easy solutions to complex problems. Most importantly, neither has any chance of being their party’s nominee for President. Instead, they appeal to a narrow group of “screw you voters,” a term my political mentor Jay Goodman once used to refer to the voters who support Bob Healey...

Donald Trump's 2016 presidential run seems custom-made for a third party. The billionaire developer has never held political office, never run as a Republican or Democrat. He doesn't need a party's money-raising apparatus. His anti-politician appeal — "Politicians are never going to bring us to the promised land" — cuts equally against Republicans and Democrats. And as far as Republicans are concerned, Trump appears to connect with GOP voters who are so disgusted with the party's current Washington leadership that they would be open to a third-party campaign. But in an interview Tuesday, Trump said he has no interest in...

"The media and the government won't tell us the truth, but the people in America know what the truth is," she said.On “Hannity” Monday evening, conservative columnist Ann Coulter came to the defense of Donald Trump, claiming that not only are his remarks about Mexican criminality correct, but that in speaking them he has become a champion of working class and black Americans. “Ann, boy, your timing on the book — look what happens!” guest host Eric Bolling gushed, momentarily forgetting that what happened was the brutal murder of Kate Steinle. “This is big stuff, isn’t it?” “We’ve all been...

Pataki sends letter to other GOP candidates asking them to call out Trump on comments regarding illegal immigrants.ALLENSTOWN, N.H. —Presidential candidates flocked to the Granite State during the July Fourth weekend. Former New York Gov. George Pataki and Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal attended a cookout hosted by the Merrimack County Republican Committee. The event was low-key and gave both Republican candidates the chance to talk one on one with voters. Both candidates had something to say about recent comments from Republican challenger Donald Trump. “I am disappointed he (Trump) hasn’t seen that it was a stupid and wrong comment,” Pataki...

“… Then they came for me, and there was no one left to speak for me.” – Martin Niemoller, anti-Nazi pastor Donald Trump set off a firestorm with his recent remarks about Mexico. Good, he’s hit a nerve. At his campaign kickoff announcement at Trump Towers, Trump said, “When Mexico sends its people, they’re not sending their best. They’re not sending you (gesturing to audience member), they’re not sending you. They’re sending people that have lots of problems, and they’re bringing those problems with us. They’re bringing drugs. They’re bringing crime. They’re rapists. And some, I assume, are good people.”...

JUDY WOODRUFF, PBS NEWSHOUR: I want to ask you both about something else that’s come up. And that is comments that Donald Trump, who announced a few days ago he’s running for president, has made about Mexicans. And here’s a quote from Donald Trump. “I love the Mexican people, but you have people coming through the border that are from all over, and they are bad. I’m talking about people that are from all over that are killers and rapists.” Big reaction, Mark, on the Republican side to this. What does this mean for the Republican field? The other candidates,...

Motormouth Donald Trump isn’t doing the Republican Party any favors — and his fellow GOP candidates are adding to the damage by being slow to condemn him, Latino advocates said Friday. “Trump’s comments are causing irreparable harm to the brand. It’s going to be very hard to come back from it,” said Felix Sanchez, chairman of the National Hispanic Foundation for the Arts. The billionaire candidate sent the debate over border control into overdrive — and cost himself business deals — by saying Mexico exports “rapists” and drug dealers to the U.S. He upped the ante Friday after Kate Steinle,...

Ted Cruz's presidential campaign announced Sunday it raked in about $10 million during the second quarter of this year, bringing the balance available to promote his campaign to over $51 million. That number, which combines contributions to Cruz's campaign and the super PACs backing him, solidifies the senator's status as a potential second-place finisher in the first round of the 2016 money race. Former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush is expected to raise far more money than his competitors. The official numbers for both Cruz's campaign and the four pro-Cruz super PACs will not be disclosed until later this summer. But...

(VIDEO-AT-LINK)Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX), the most conservative presidential candidate for 2016, was recently interviewed by Hispanic TV channel Univision on a variety of subjects including the recent U.S. Supreme court opinion on counterfeit marriage. The interview turned out to be a great opportunity to inform the Hispanic community about the U.S. Constitution and conservative values. The Univision Leftist interviewer Jorge Ramos seemed to think “love wins” (translation: “perverted lust wins”), but Senator Cruz said that (like any patriotic American) he would rather the U.S. Constitution wins. He pointed out that the U.S. Supreme Court opinion on counterfeit marriage was “fundamentally...

In an exclusive interview with Breitbart News, Citizens United chief David Bossie says the Fox News poll released on Wednesday reinforces results his organization obtained in a survey of its own. The Fox poll shows Donald Trump in second place among 2016 Republican presidential contenders, and Bossie calls that a clear sign that “the conservative movement that makes up the Republican party voter base is desperately looking for leadership.” The stunning new Fox News poll shows Jeb Bush in the lead with the support of 15 percent of likely Republican primary voters, but Trump is right behind him in second...

Suddenly, a Georgia church has become the site of a serious tug-of-war for evangelical voters between Republican presidential candidates Ted Cruz and Mike Huckabee. On Sunday evening, both candidates will appear at Rock Springs Church in Milner, Ga., pastored by the Rev. Benny Tate, one of Georgia’s higher-profile Southern Baptist preachers. Cruz was already on our radar as an attendee at the 5 p.m. event. The Huckabee campaign announced this afternoon that the former governor of Arkansas would make the event as well. The July 5 event, an Independence Day picnic, also features Jep Robertson of “Duck Dynasty,” and music...

Hispanic leaders are warning of harm to Republican White House hopes unless the party's presidential contenders do more to condemn Donald Trump, a businessman turned presidential candidate who's refusing to apologize for calling Mexican immigrants rapists and drug dealers. Trump's comments, delivered in his announcement speech last month, have haunted the GOP for much of the last two weeks and dominated Spanish-language media....

Sen. Ted Cruz now has five fellow Texan members of Congress publicly backing his 2016 presidential run. Cruz’s campaign announced Thursday morning the endorsement of Rep. Brian Babin, R-Woodville. “Ted has shown the conservative leadership and fortitude we so desperately need in our nation’s highest office,” said Babin in a statement released by the Cruz campaign. ”Now is a time for truth,” echoing the title of the senator’s new book, “and he will speak honestly to the American people.” Like Cruz, Babin has been critical of Republican leadership and President Barack Obama’s executive actions on immigration. Babin voted “present” in...

Former Gov. Rick Perry, looking to break through in a crowded Republican field for president, is positioning himself as a leading voice against billionaire businessman Donald Trump, whose weeks-old candidacy is already causing headaches for the GOP. Perry, who has kept a low public profile over the past week or two, delivered a speech Thursday at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., that was remarkable in its own right. He emphatically urged his party to work harder to connect with black voters and suggested the GOP has occasionally focused too much on state rights at the expense of civil...

It was a difficult marriage from the beginning. Its success was largely regional and state by state. But where it worked, it worked well, mainly the South and parts of the West. They papered over their differences for years. Now they've grown apart and a messy divorce looms. It wasn't exactly a shotgun marriage. The Wall Street/Koch Brothers crowd gleefully accepted the support of Tea Party and evangelical leaders, as long as austerity, high-end tax cuts and deregulation were part of the agenda. The cultural right needed money and legitimacy. Everybody got along. No more. The split was thrust into...